This is my personal blog. I was Branch Secretary of Lambeth UNISON from 1992 to 2017 and a member of the National Executive Council (NEC) of UNISON, the public service union (www.unison.org.uk) from 2003 to 2017.
I am Chair of Brighton Pavilion Constituency Labour Party and of the Sussex Labour Representation Committee (LRC).
Neither the Labour Party nor UNISON is responsible for the contents of this personal blog. (Nor is my employer!)

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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Greater London UNISON goes all out to build for 30 November

Yesterday the Greater London Region of UNISON overcame an unanticipated power cut to arrange new venues for a meeting of our Regional Committee, a briefing for more than 150 branch delegates and a meeting of our Regional Local Government Committee (sadly a little inquorate as so many delegates had gone back to branches to get on with building for the strike).

The branch briefing saw Regional Secretary, Linda Perks, taking a strong line in calling upon all activists to do all we can to get all members out all day on 30 November. The only members who will be permitted to do other than strike for the full day will be those legitimately exempted or providing emergency cover agreed by the Regional Office.

Branch delegates were resolute and determined. No one present sounded a discordant note.

We now have the hard work of persuading members to strike, picket, rally and demonstrate on 30 November.

The Regional Local Government Committee members gave our representatives on the Service Group Executive a "steer" for the meeting called for 23 November. Our unanimous view was that the strike must go ahead, that we need ample time to consider the details of any offer (of which there is in any case no sign) and that we believe plans must begin now to escalate all out strike action for a longer period early in the New Year.

We now have an irreversible momentum for the largest, most solid and most effective strike of our lives in a fortnight's time.